TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (January 30, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 30 January 1996

[01] Turkey determined to protect rights on Aegean rocks

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Pledging to defend its rights on the twin Kardak rocks, Turkey demanded on Monday that Greece withdraw its soldiers and the flag it put atop from the barren outcroppings in the Aegean sea almost a stone's throw from its shore.

Emerging from a late night conference with foreign minister Deniz Baykal and senior military and intelligence officials, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said Turkey considered the rocks its own territory and had no intention of yielding them.

"It is out of question for Turkey to allow others to have designs on its territory this way or the other," Ciller said.

She said Turkey preferred the peaceful settlement of the dispute, and was ready to start negotiations immediately "But it is out of question for us to bow to a fait accompli ... we will put our fullest determination behind this issue." "We are going to settle this matter.. just as we have settled the Avrasya crisis," Ciller said referring to the successful handling of the recent ferry hijacking in the Black Sea by Chechen sympathizers.

Echoing Ciller, Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal said Turkey wanted a diplomatic solution to the issue, but said "We are prepared for every eventuality," in an indirect confirmation of reports that the armed forces were alerted.

Baykal said Greek claims the island were not backed by international agreements.

Baykal said he had told Turkey's to Greek Ambassador Dimitrios Nezeritis summoned to the foreign ministry while necessary representations were made in Athens as well.

Navy Commander Adm. Guven Erkaya attended the meeting beside other ranking military officials and Sonmez Koksal, the chief of the intelligence service MIT.

The three-hour war council followed a cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

" We have discussed the situation and will now watch the developments, Baykal told reporters after the cabinet meeting but withheld comment when asked if the forces were put on alert.

Speaking after his meeting with Ambassador Nezeritis, Baykal maintained that Turkey did not accept the Greek claim that the Kardak, or Imia, rocks belonged to Greece and urged its NATO ally to withdraw the 12 soldiers it stationed there.

Referring to the Turkish note, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said " We have told them both sides should refrain from unilateral action that might increase tensions."

"In this context, we have asked Greece to withdraw the Greek troops dispatched to the rocks and remove any sign that tries to prove Greek sovereignty." While Nezeritis refrained from any comment until he consulted Athens, a spokesman for the Greek Embassy said that Greece denied the presence of any troops on the island.

"We hope that common sense will prevail in Greece," Akbel said, not clarifying what Turkey would do if Greece did not comply with the two demands "as soon as possible." Ankara repeatedly stressed its wish for the settlement of the issue through an agreement and any de facto situation -- such as the Greek attempt to open some of the islands to settlement -- would have no legal bearing.

However, Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos had said to Greek media over the weekend that they would not rise to the Turkish "trick" of forcing Greece to the negotiating table.

Government spokesman Dimitrios Reppas, meanwhile, said in Athens that Greece maintained its view that there was nothing to discuss between Turkey and Greece except the question of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea.

Ankara's view, however, is the opposite. "Turkey believes under international law the Kardak rocks belong to Turkey ...

Greece, on the same issue, says the rocks belong to Greece. It is evident that there is a dispute," Omer Akbel, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a press conference Monday. He described the issue as a "legal question." After the conveyance of the note to Nezeritis, Akbel held a second press conference to explain Turkey's legal arguments. The Turkish view is that the two agreements made in 1932 between Turkey and Italy, who possessed the islands at the time, are not relevant. Akbel said that the first of these agreements had no relevance to the Kardak rocks and the second -- made on Dec. 28 of the same year -- had not been finalized.

"Greeks themselves have implicitly acknowledged the vacuum in the issue, as they wanted to take up the matter with Turkey in 1950 and 1953," Akbel said.

Turkey, Akbel said, had agreed to dialogue at the time but no further steps had been taken.

Thus, claims the Turkish side, the only relevant agreement on the status of Kardak rocks is the 1947 Paris Agreement, which refers to "adjacent islets." "However, the Kardak rocks, which are 5.5 miles away from the nearest Greek island are neither adjacent, nor are they islets," Akbel said.

Ankara also sought to counter a Greek initiative which aimed to lobby various European states against Turkey on the matter.

Turkey has already briefed U.S. Ambassador Marc Grossman on the subject and will continue to do so with European Union and NATO countries.

The escalation in tension between the two neighbors surfaced a week ago, when a Turkish ship crashed into the twin rock group which is 3.8 nautical miles away from the Turkish shore. It grew worse through the remarks of Greece's new Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos who said that Turkey had "claimed Greek land for the first time." Late Sunday, Turkish Ambassador to Athens Umit Pamir went to the Greek Foreign Ministry to discuss the issue with Pangalos.

He said that Turkey wanted this dispute to be solved through negotiation, but it was up to Greece to accept or refuse the offer.

"It is not possible to create sovereignty by de facto situations and fait accompli," Akbel said, referring to the Greek move to remove a Turkish flag on the rocks and to hoist back the Greek one.

Military sources said that a Greek naval patrol boat was now in the waters off the little island and a Turkish Coast Guard vessel was in the vicinity.

After the Turkish ship left, a round of "flag wars" broke out with the mayor of Kalymnos planting the Greek flag. Turkish journalists then showed up by helicopter on Saturday, took down the Greek flag and raised the Turkish.

Meanwhile, Greece has explained its discomfort with "several overzealous Turkish reporters" who came to island to hang the Turkish flag.

"The Greek navy put up the Greek flag and for our part the incident is finished. The armed forces are in a high state of preparedness and will protect our national territory," said Greek Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis.

Greece and Turkey nearly went to war in 1987 in a dispute over mineral rights in the Aegean. They argued last year over whether Athens has the right to extend its territorial waters in the Aegean to 12 miles from six.

[02] Demirel to discuss Balkan issues at the World Economic Forum

ANKARA- President Suleyman Demirel will speak at the closing session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.

Foreign Ministry officials said that President Demirel will attend a session entitled "Peace in the Balkans," on Feb. 6, and will discuss "how stability and rapid progress can be provided in the Balkans."

Other sessions will discuss security issues, European monetary union, the World Trade Organization, the struggle against unemployment, the economic situation in Latin America, Asian-Pacific economic cooperation and the free flow of information.